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we thank you very much for your willingness to take part. Your contributions will help us to make better recommendations on how the EU Strategy for the Danube Region can be better brought to life.

Below you can find a series of statements which came out of focus groups (moderator-led discussions) with representatives from all the countries of the Danube Region. We would like to ask you to vote on the statements by clicking on the respective icons on the right of the statements. We would be especially happy if you could also comment on the statements or make further suggestion. Besides you, we invited a series of other experts. We hope that from your comments and those from the other participants a lively discussion will arise.

The statements below refer mainly to the catching-up countries of the Danube Region which are basically the non-German speaking countries. Thus, if you encounter terms like “the countries” or “the eastern countries” then this refers to the non-German speaking area of the Danube Region.

The statements are summarised in five broad sections. The first relates to the problems with project identification and implementation. In the second criteria for projects are mentioned and the third covers comments on the EUSDR in general. Then we also have extracted thematic fields and concrete projects from the focus group (Section 4 and 5).

You will note that the statements are not necessarily consistent. This is intended in order to present the different views for the specific topic.

CONTRIBUTORS (87)

P88

Creating a high-level body , e.g. of the heads of government of the countries of the Danube Region, which meets on a regular basis in order to discuss topics related to the Danube Region and also take decisions regarding the problems of the Danube Region.

P91

P92

P93

There are enormous disparities between the countries of the Danube Region in terms of standard of living (GDP), innovation and technology levels. This makes cooperation tricky because the different subregions have different needs. It is also difficult to identify common interests for interregional projects.

P94

Some countries do not feel part of primarily the Danube Region. They are oriented towards other areas of Europe. (For example, the Czech Republic is generally oriented to the Western European countries and maybe also the Visegrad countries. Slovenia feels to be more part of the Adriatic Region.) It is difficult to integrate these countries in the strategy if the Danube is used as identification criterion. The integration of these countries must come through the identification of common interests.

P95

The Danube Strategy can help to remove borders. Not just borders in the real world but also borders in people’s minds. The real potential of the strategy lies in the removal of barriers in regulation, transportation or other fields. The Danube Strategy can give an incentive to look outside the own country for best practices.